So Different Yet So Alike
by Klemex
Summary: It's the Marauder's 6th year at Hogwarts when the staff decides to have exchange students. With them comes a group that's basically that school's own version of the Marauders.....of the opposite gender.
1. DON'T CALL ME PADDY!

Okay, I know my chapter is still short but I revised it and made it a little longer. In the far future I may make it longer but right now I'd rather work on the other chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own HP and this will be my disclaimer for the whole story.

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"Shoot, I'm going to be late!"

Hurriedly cramming the last of his toast in his mouth, the bespectacled boy mumbled a quick muffled goodbye to his parents around his mouthful as he got out of the car. Grabbing his things from the back, he started sprinting towards a brick archway. His trunk swung crazily behind him, threatening to tip over while his owl hooted indignantly from its lurching cage. Suddenly, the boy and his things disappeared, right as they hit the wall.

On the other side of the brick barrier, he hurriedly raced to the door of the train just as they were being shut. Lunging, he tumbled inside right as the door clicked shut behind him. _Just in time_, he thought victoriously. Then his head whirled around as he heard a familiar  
voice.

"Hey Prongs! Over here!"

The date was September 1st and James Potter had just boarded the Hogwarts Express in the nick of time, and if he did say so himself, a bit of a flourish. His friend Sirius Black (a.k.a. Padfoot) had stuck his black haired head out of a compartment and was calling to him. James immediately felt a wide grin break out on his face.

"Padfoot!"

After quickly gathering his things which had spilt when he had jumped onto the train with a sweep of his wand, he walked briskly to the open door. Entering, James smoothly lifted his things up on the rack overhead with the ease of someone who had been doing that for a long time and looking around while his bird settled, he saw a boy with dirty blond hair with his nose buried inside a thick book.

"Moony! How can you read when James Potter is in the room? He's definitely more interesting then a mere book!" He grinned to show he was joking as he examined at his friend. Remus was looking a bit peaky and pale but then again, it had been a full moon recently. Looking up from the book he was currently reading, Remus spotted James and smiled.

"Good to see you too Prongs and if you're done addressing yourself in third person, how was your summer?"

"Pretty boring if you think about it...I mean, it's not like I did anything and there wasn't anybody to prank."

"Well, then I guess I'd be right in guessing we'll be going on a pranking spree soon huh?"

"But of course Moony! We would be disappointing everyone if we didn't do our traditional welcome back pranks!"

Remus shook his head but grinned. "So James, are we going to start sixth year with a bang? In other words, with a big prank?"

"Yup! Do you have any good ideas?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could transform the Slytherins into-"

"Hey!" Sirius cut in, looking at James and Remus with fake hurt in his eyes. "You guys aren't starting to plan without me are you? Because you'll need," here Sirius flung out his hands dramatically, "my brilliance and cunning to make any worthwhile plans." James sighed and sympathetically patted Sirius on the back. "It's alright Padfoot; it's not your fault you're in denial. Well, actually it is but that's not the point."

Sirius jerked away and glared at James. "I am _not_ in denial despite what you may think. Now I shall go to someone who may appreciate my brilliance." With that he got up and started to go to Remus when an arm shot out and grabbed the back of his shirt collar, effectively keeping him from going any further no matter how hard he strained against his shirt.

"What were you saying Padfoot?' James asked pleasantly, as if they were having a normal conversation and he wasn't forcefully  
restraining Sirius.

"N-n-nothing, but yo-o-u're cho-o-oking me!" Sirius managed to say those words and then proceeded to have a wrestling match with James's arm. Soon he was free and gasping, gingerly rubbing his mangled throat.

_Thunk!_ The back of a certain messy haired person's head suddenly came in intimate contact with the back of Sirius's hand.

"Oww! What was that for!"

"Oh nothing if you don't count strangling me." Sirius calmly remarked, pretending to inspect his fingernails as if they were the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. Abruptly he looked up, eyes shining.

"OH! I just remembered something!" Sirius started to excitedly bounce around the small compartment. Looking over at him, James asked, "What?"

Sirius stopped suddenly in mid bounce. "……um……I forgot?"

James peered at Sirius over his glasses. "You forgot?"

"Uh-huh."

"You forgot as soon as you remembered it?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's sad Padfoot."

"Uh-huh. Hey, wait a minute!"

Shaking his head, James started to grin but halfway it turned into a frown as the train shook and began moving.

"Where's Wormtail?" He inquired, looking around with a questioning look.

Sirius shook his head pityingly. "Shame on you Prongs, not even able to keep track of your own friends."

The said person scowled at him. "It's not my fault; he hardly owled me."

Remus inserted his own comment. "You _are_ aware of the fact that you can owl him too, right James?" James pretended to have not heard that but he reddened slightly and Remus snickered quietly to himself.

Smirking, Sirius pretended to think something over. He began to talk to himself rather loudly.

"Hmm, should I tell ol' Prongsie over here? No? He doesn't deserve to know? Yeah, I agree-" Sirius was cut off by this point by a smack in the head from a "concerned" looking James.

"Are you alright?" he asked in overly worried tones while feeling Sirius's forehead for a fever. "I knew the mental institute was wrong in letting you go so soon. One day out and you're already talking to yourself. After all," here James nodded sagely, "they say the first step towards insanity is talking to yourself."

"Ha ha, very funny, I'm laughing my pants off."

"Ugh! That's nasty, bad mental image!"

Remus chuckled, amused by their antics. However, he decided to take pity on James and to just tell him straight out. "Peter moved to the states."

James looked quizzically at him. "The…states?" he repeated slowly as if saying it slower would make him suddenly understand.

"Yes, the states. As in the U.S. James." Remus spoke slowly and clearly, as if he were talking to a 3-year old. Since James seemed to be no closer to understanding then before, he sighed and clarified it for him. "The United States? You know, that big place on North America?

"Oh!" Realization suddenly dawned on James's face. Then he frowned. "Why?"

Remus threw up his hands in exasperation. "Who knows James, there's never one reason for moving. How would _I_ know? Ask Peter if you really want to know."

Sirius threw back his head and let out a bark of laughter and then promptly started singing in an annoying voice, "Prongsie got told off, Prongsie got told off…" over and over again until "Prongsie" took a chocolate frog, aimed for Sirius's open mouth, and fired.

"Bull's-eye!" he crowed as Sirius looked startled to find out that he had a mouthful of chocolate. Shrugging, Sirius started munching away happily on the frog. Remus sighed again as he resumed his reading.

"By the way Prongs, I saw your entrance." Sirius remarked. "You seemed a bit flustered and you just barely made it. Care to tell us why?" James sniffed haughtily. "First of all, I wasn't flustered. Second of all, I didn't just barely make it, it was all calculated so my entrance was made just right." Sirius scoffed, not even pretending to believe him.

"Uh-huh, sure Jamie, whatever you say." Remus on the other hand, decided to humor James. "Alright James, let's say your entrance was all calculated. What happened to make you decide to calculate the entrance to make it _seem_ like you almost missed the train?"

"Well you see, last night I was watching TV ("What?" "Muggle form of entertainment." "Oh. Go on.") when I realized the remote wasn't working ("The what?" "It controls the TV." "Sirius, stop interrupting!"). So anyways, I went and took the batteries out of my alarm clock –don't ask- and put it in the remote. Unfortunately, I forgot to put them back so the alarm didn't go off, I woke later then planned, had to speed things up to get ready on time while my oh _so _helpful parents laughed at my plight, and then we drove over here. Of course, on the way I calculated my entrance since I had to speed things up which included how I got on the train."

Remus looked at James amusedly. "It seems like you went through a lot trouble planning this out and for no reason. It's not like people besides us were watching…"

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, my adoring fans _must_ have been watching!"

"Whatever you say Prongs. Oh, and shouldn't we be planning our prank by now?"

"Yeah you're right, we should. And Paddy can join us this time too."

"_DON"T CALL ME THAT!"  
_

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Okay, review now!


	2. Exchange Students

Revised, believe it or not.

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"Hey Padfoot, we weren't that short when we first came here were we?"

"No, I don't think so. But you on the other hand..."

"Shut it."

Sirius looked put out. "Well, sorry Mr. I'm-mad-because-I-can't-admit-I-was-short-in-first-year!"

James growled, "I was NOT short! Plus, I wouldn't be talking, I am DEFINENTLY taller then you in our other forms."

Remus frowned at them, his look clearly saying shut-up-do-you-want-people-to-find-out? James immediately put on a mortified face and spoke with obvious fake horror.

"Oh no, WHAT was I THINKING when I said that? Now we shall all suffer a horrible fate because of my blunder! NO!" He ended his little speech by falling dramatically to his knees and looking beseechingly at the heavens while raising his hands above his head. Sirius snickered and even Remus cracked a grin. They received odd looks from the new first years who had not yet heard of them and Remus would have sworn he heard one whisper to his friend, "…do you suppose they're alright in the head?" The rest of the school (not counting the swooning girls) ignored them, used to their behavior (well, not _really_ used to their behavior, they were the Marauders after all), even though it was usually Sirius who was dramatic. Shaking his head, Remus reached down and yanked James up by his collar. "At least _try_ to appear sane and sensible Prongs?"

Grinning cockily, James turned to see the girls, and waved to them, causing quite a few to nearly faint from the fact that _James Potter_ was waving at them. "Aw, lighten up Moony, live a little! I mean, come on, you're only a hot gorgeous 16-year old once." His face suddenly took on a thoughtful look. "Then again, I guess you could take an Age Reversing potion but it wouldn't be the same...would it?"

As James pondered on this train of thought, the three remaining Marauders entered the Great Hall and sat down. Everyone was waiting for the sorting to start but the Headmaster suddenly stood up. He began speaking.

"Welcome back students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm pleased to see all the new faces and expect you older students to help them out. Before we start the sorting, I have a few important announcements to make. Mr. Pringle would like me to remind certain sixth year Gryffindors that the Forbidden Forest is called forbidden for a reason." Here Professor Dumbledore looked over at the trio who all grinned innocently. "Also, this year at Hogwarts the staff and I decided to participate in a student exchange program." Sirius turned excitedly to James and whispered, "Remember that thing I was going to tell you on the train? Well, this is what I forgot!" James smiled and nodded absentmindedly. He wanted to hear Dumbledore for once. Quickly, he tuned back in to what he was saying.

"-will be coming from Nesra Academy. They will be sorted along with the first years. Hogwarts' rules will also apply to them. They can gain or lose house points, participate in activities, go to dances, all of those things. Put simply, they will be just like Hogwart's students. I trust that they will have a pleasant year. To those under sixth year, I apologize. The students will all be sixth years."

At this statement, the three boys looked excitedly at each other. Just then, the creaking of the Great Hall's doors as they were opened was heard. All heads swiveled to the doors. They slowly opened, revealing a group of students all dressed in completely black robes except for three. Those three were in front of everyone and carried themselves with authority. It was obvious even to Sirius that they were the leaders. These three all had the same black robes as everyone else but the one in the center had the robes edged with green, the one on the left with blue, and the one on the right with purple. They were also the only ones with their hoods on so that their faces weren't visible.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Ah! Here are our guests! Welcome and please stand by the first years up front. Now, first years and exchange students, when your name is called, please proceed to the stool to be sorted and put on the Sorting Hat sitting on it. It will call out what house you are in. When it does, please place the Hat back down and go sit at the house it called out." Finishing his speech, the headmaster sat down but not before proclaiming, "Let the sorting begin!"

"Abbot, Sally!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Brendle, Tom!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The sorting went on this way and James drifted off but suddenly the hat called out,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindors burst out into cheers. The first new Gryffindor! James quickly asked Remus, "Who was that?" "Err, I think…Lily Evans?" Remus shrugged. James focused on Lily, the newly sorted Gryffindor. He realized she was one of the exchange students but not only that, she was the one with the green-edged robe! As he watched her, instead of going to sit down at the table like all the others had been doing, she moved off to the side and stayed there. She still kept her hood up. Professor McGonagall started towards her with a frown but Headmaster Dumbledore stopped her saying, "Leave her alone for now, she's not disturbing anyone." By now, everyone was staring at this...Lily Evans. Still, the sorting went on without any more interruptions or oddities until…

"Lee, Jennifer!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Jennifer was the one with the purple-edged robe. She also went off to the side and joined Lily. The two stood there impassively, not at all bothered by everyone's stares.

Soon the sorting was nearly over and only one name was left on the floor long list McGonagall held in her hands.

"Roberts, Alexandria!"

"GRYFFINDOR!'"

Predictably, this was the person with the blue-edged robe. After joining the other two, they finally went to the Gryffindor table together and sat down. James nudged an exchange student sitting by him. "Who are they?" he demanded, nodding towards the three girls who STILL had their hoods drawn. James was suddenly filled with curiosity as to what they looked like.

"I can't tell you yet, but don't worry, they'll introduce themselves soon," the exchange student said. Sirius poked James. "I wonder if they're hot?" James couldn't help but chuckle. "Trust you to think of things like that. Guess we'll have to wait to find out."

Suddenly terrified screams rang throughout the Hall. There was an enormous crash as one of the giant stained glass windows was broken. Shards of splintered glass sprayed everywhere, clattering down harmlessly one to the floor with little tinkling sounds. A colossal scarlet and black dragon flew in beating the air with its tough leathery wings, its glossy scales reflecting the light of the bewitched candles. Parting its mouth to show razor sharp fangs, it let out a thunderous roar, bloodshot eyes glittering with barely suppressed fury. Everyone stared at it petrified with fear. Even the teachers were speechless. Then, it roared once again and savagely spat out blue flames above the staff's table. The flames quickly formed fiery letters in sketchy writing that said, "_Greetings from Nesra Academy!" _In smaller letters, it said under it, _"Courtesy of the Prowlers."  
_

The dragon then started to swell up and it became increasingly heated. Abruptly it exploded with a loud bang, raining down sparkling red glitter everywhere. Recovering from his shock first, Dumbledore began to clap and the rest of the school followed suit.

"That was bloody excellent!"

"Yeah, I wonder who did it! I don't know of any other pranksters besides us capable of doing stuff like that." The three boys chattered amongst themselves, all thinking, _who did it?  
_

Just then, the three hooded girls stood up. As one, they threw back their hoods with the ease one could only have if they had practiced, revealing themselves to the school.

"We are the Prowlers," stated Lily, "and thank you for the applause. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time during our stay but," here her eyes narrowed warningly and Jennifer continued in her place, "If you mess with anyone from our school..."

"You will regret it." finished Alexandria. However, even though everyone had heard them, most people didn't seem to be really taking it in, especially the guys. Why? Because the Prowlers were drop dead gorgeous girls. Alexandria Roberts had smooth blonde hair that went just a little bit past her shoulder and mesmerizing blue eyes. Jennifer Lee had straight black hair that went down to her waist and alert brown eyes. She had an oriental look to her because she was Asian. Lily Evans had wavy red hair that went halfway down her back and stunning emerald eyes.

The Prowlers sat back down and ignoring all the looks they were getting, calmly began eating. Eventually the rest of the student population followed suit but every once in awhile, someone would sneak a look at them.

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled. Something told him it was going to be an interesting year.

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Yeah! Another chapter! Please read and review people, it's not that hard, just click the little button….


	3. Where is your car?

Lily let out a sigh so soft that it was barely audible. However, two people noticed it.

"What's wrong Lils?"

"Yeah, I mean the food's not bad, the teachers seem pretty cool, the dragon went down well, and we even got a round of applause! What more do you want? You should be smiling, not sighing."

Lily grinned at her two best friends, Alexandria and Jennifer. "I know, it's just that…all the guys were staring again which probably means more annoying 'love' letters in the morning." She grimaced but then smiled. "Hey, remember that last school we went to for that other exchange student program?"

"It seems like the school signs us up for any exchange student programs huh? I can really tell they love us, leaping at any chance to get rid of us," Alexandria giggled. "Hmm, I wonder what we did that made them so fond of us," she asked, tapping her chin in mock thoughtfulness.

Jennifer laughed, "I don't know Alex, could it be because of that time when we set the kitchen on fire while looking for a midnight snack?"

"Or maybe it's because of the time when Jen turned the transfiguration teacher into a purple ferret with frog legs and antennas!" Lily started to laugh aloud at the memory and Jennifer defended herself indignantly. "That was back in _fourth _year! Besides, that pitiful excuse for a teacher gave me a 76 on that test when I obviously deserved a hundred or higher! I mean, come on, _I_ had better transfiguration skills then him!"

"Uh-huh, okay Jen, we know, you are very gifted in transfiguration and that teacher was simply too incompetent to see it. We've been through this before. Honestly Jen…" Alexandria shook her head but then looked up and faced Lily.

"So before we got into this discussion, you were saying something about that last school we went into…?" "Oh yeah! Well, what I was saying was, remember after all the guys saw us?"

"Of course, we were bombarded by owls the next day!"

"And all of them were carrying love letters-"

"But there were Howlers too, from girls who said we 'stole' their man-"

"Of course, how could I have forgotten those _wonderful_ Howlers…" Lily sighed again but this time it was made in reminisces.

"Those were annoying times."

"But they were _fun_ annoying times," corrected Jennifer offhandedly. "True…" Alexandria sighed alongside Lily. "Curse you Lily, making me dread the morning now." Lily giggled. "Knowing you, you probably _would_ curse me, seeing as you're good with hexes."

Wagging her finger in front of Lily's face, Alexandria remarked in a shocked tone, "Now, now Lils, you make that sound as if it's a bad thing!" Laughing, the three girls resumed talking and eating, unaware of the gazes of two particular boys.

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"Prongs….. Prongs….Prongs…..PRONGS!"

"Huh?" James jumped in his seat, startled. He quickly found the source of the disturbance and in doing so scowled at Remus for he was the culprit that had just interrupted him from his staring session.

"What?"

Sirius pouted. "It's time for our prank you poo-poo head!" He snorted and muttered, "And I here I was thinking you were the unofficial leader…" James raised an eyebrow. "Poo-poo head? Where did _that_ come from?" Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Some little muggle kid was calling his sister that and I thought I'd try it out on you!"

Casually grabbing a roll, a certain werewolf lightly threw it at Sirius's head.

"Hey! What was that for?

Remus just looked at Sirius and said, "First of all, don't reprimand James, you were doing the same thing. Second of all, don't say 'poo-poo head'. It makes you seem stupider and even more idiotic as hard as it is to believe that's even possible. Now that that's out of the way, James, would you like to do the honors now that you've stopped staring at girls?"

"I was _not_ staring but sure Moony!" Without looking as to not draw attention to him, James slid out his wand and discreetly pointed it at the Slytherins table and whispered, "_Reptelian Colorus!"  
_

Immediately, with a loud _poof! _a smoky white fog covered the Slytherin's table. After it had lifted, the entire Hall erupted into laughter (minus the teachers but Dumbledore's eyes _did_ twinkle rather brighter then usual…). The Slytherins had all been transformed into unusually colored snakes. The Marauders smirked at two particular snakes however, Snape and Malfloy. They were both medium sized snakes and looked pretty normal if it weren't for the small fact that Snape was a bright fluorescent pink with flashing neon green dots and the words _I am a greasy git_ were written on him and Malfloy was rainbow colored and had the words _I am a wannabe evil git_ on him. The Marauders laughed heartily and after Remus expertly flicked his wand, the words, '_The Marauders complement the Slytherins's on their new look'! _appeared over the snakes.

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"Merlin, did you see that Lils! That's like, so funny!" Alexandria was laughing her head off along with Lily and Jennifer. "I know we shouldn't be laughing because it isn't very nice but," Jennifer smirked, "how can we help it if it's so funny? Plus we can't really talk since we do the same thing."

Lily nodded in agreement. Suddenly Alexandria spoke up while looking up at the ceiling.

"What do you think I should get, cobalt blue or cerulean?" Jennifer raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well that was out of the blue, no pun intended. Was that even a pun? I mean you were talking about blues so….but anyways, do you mean for a blouse, robes, nail polish, or something else?"

"Blouse probably. Or maybe the color of the ceiling or should I say sky illusion, it's a really deep blue that would bring out my eyes…" Alexandria continued gazing up at the ceiling as she contemplated on which color to get.

"When do you think we can go to Hogsmeade?" She asked.

Lily frowned in thought. "Don't we go on weekends?" Jennifer nodded. "Probably. Alex, if you're done staring at the ceiling, can we go?" She asked as she yawned. Lily yawned too. "Yeah, let's head up to the dormitory, I'm ready to crash. I just realized how tiring driving is, even with an enhanced car, charmed by yours truly, Lily Evans." Jennifer giggled. "Yeah, me too." Then she frowned. "Why did we drive anyways?" Alexandria sighed. "We drove because Lily had just finished modifying her new car and she just _had_ to try it out. Speaking of which, what did you do with the car Lily?"

Beaming proudly, Lily showed them a little keychain that had a charm that looked like her car on it. Her two friend's eyes bugged out. "Is that your CAR!"

"Yup! Cool huh? I _did _tell you that I charmed it in different ways." As the girls got up and headed towards the Gryffindor common room, Jennifer sighed, "You never cease to amaze me Lils." Lily just beamed.

...

Celebrate with me people! I finally finished chapter 3! This one took a while because I made this one up as I went. Don't forget to review and along with chapter four, I'm going to have a little treat for you. At least I think it's a treat.

-Klemex


	4. Portraits and Passwords

Click on the link on my page to see the signatures of The Prowlers and The Marauders. I would put it here but something keeps getting messed up so…

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"OPEN!"

The Prowlers were outside the Gryffindor common room and Lily was unsuccessfully trying to make the picture open. The Fat Lady shook her head.

"Sorry dear but that isn't the right password either." Lily was grinding her teeth in frustration and her eyes had a murderous look in them. Lack of sleep was forgotten as she battled with the portrait. Jennifer looked warily at her. That had been Lily's fifty-third try. She spoke up tentatively.

"Lil? Why don't we find someone who knows the password?" Sparing a glance at Jennifer, Lily growled, "No thanks, I'm not moving until this stubborn picture opens." The Fat Lady gasped indignantly. "I beg your pardon!" Huffing, she turned and marched out of the frame with her nose in the air. Alexandria groaned.

"Great job Lils, I'm sure we'll be able to enter now." Lily gaped at her. "_Excuse me_? It's not my fault we had to deal with a stubborn and sensitive _picture_! I mean a _picture _of all things?" As she continued to rant, her voice rose higher and higher. Alexandria and Jennifer only looked at her tiredly.

"How long till she calms down do you think?" Alexandria muttered to Jennifer. "Don't know, maybe in five minutes? I knew we shouldn't have let her drive so much, now she's really cranky." Alexandria patted her arm sympathetically. "Don't be so hard on yourself, I mean, I doubt she would have let us drive even if we asked." Jennifer nodded mournfully and sighed.

"-and she had the nerve to walk out like that with her nose in the air like little-miss-haughty and-HEY! ARE YOU TWO EVEN _LISTENING_ TO ME?" Lily glowered at them and they smiled nervously. "Well, not exactly but…" Just when Lily was about to erupt once more, she was distracted by a tap on her shoulder. Whirling around, she found herself staring into amused blue eyes.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but do you know where the Fat Lady went? My friends and I would like to get in so…oh, by the way, I'm Remus Lupin." Lily smiled charmingly at him, instantly all nice and calm.

"Why yes, I was just talking to her when she got all huffy and left. Where to I'm not sure but I'll be glad to help look for her." Lily's friends just sighed again since they were used to her mood swings but the Marauders just stared at her. They had seen the whole thing from when Lily and the Fat Lady had started arguing to when she had blown up at her friends. They had been taken by surprise in her sudden change of behavior. Jennifer stepped forward and grinned at the bemused boys.

"Hello, I'm Jennifer Lee and these are my friends Lily Evans and Alexandria Roberts. Lily you've already met. Aren't you the Marauders?"

Sirius beamed proudly. "Yup! That's us! Did you see our snake prank?" Alexandria nodded excitedly. "I thought it was hilarious. Nice use of transfiguration there, which one of you did it?" James spoke up. "I did."

Lily smiled. "Maybe you and Jen could get together sometime, she's our transfiguration specialist." James shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe…" Suddenly he turned and looked at Remus.

"You know, I think we should take up Lily's offer on looking for the Fat Lady, after all, we can't get in without her…" Remus nodded. "So," he stepped forward and looked back at the rest of the group, "shall we?" The girls giggled.

"We shall."

……………………………………………

After finding the Fat Lady and convincing her to come back, Lily realized she still didn't know the stupid password. Sheepishly she turned to the guys when they were back at the common room entrance. "You guy's wouldn't happen to know the password would you?" James smirked.

"Sparkling Water." The Fat Lady beamed widely at him and called out, "That is correct!" and shot Lily a look. Lily just growled softly under her breath.

"You know Lils, I don't think you're going to have that great of a relationship with that painting." Jennifer said conversationally as they left the boys and went into their dorm. "You think?" Lily shot back. Then, flopping down on her bed she sighed.

"I'm sorry Jen, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm just really….really…ti..er..d…" Lily was asleep before she finished speaking. Jennifer raised her eyebrows at Alexandria and said,"Is she for real Alex? I mean, how can you fall asleep in the middle of a word just like that?"

Alexandria just shrugged. "You know Lils, she's…..special! Yeah, that's it….." Jennifer snickered. "Yeah…..special. Anyways, we should get some sleep too….but I'm not that tired anymore. I think I'll go to the common room for a bit."

"Alright, it's your choice but I'm going to bed." Getting up, Alexandria went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and stuff. While she was doing that, Jennifer changed into her nightwear. Reaching into her trunk, she pulled out a book. Holding it, she left the dorm and entered the common room. She was surprised to see someone sitting on the couch facing the fire this late.

_Oh well, it's not like two people can't be down here. _In a few quick steps she reached one of the large armchairs. The person turned around and Jennifer thought she recognized him. "Remus?" He nodded and then furrowed his brow thinking. "Aren't you Jennifer?" She nodded back meaning yes as she leaned back into the armchair.. "What are you doing here so late?" Remus chuckled softly. "I should be asking you that." Jennifer grinned faintly before answering. "Yeah well, I didn't really feel like sleeping yet so I came here to read for a bit." She held up her book in proof. "What's your excuse?"

"Well, I don't really have one." They sat together in silence for awhile, Remus staring into the flames and Jennifer reading. Suddenly they heard a loud scream.

"ALEXANDRIA!'

Jennifer smiled and shook her head while Remus just looked startled. "Who was that?" he asked her. "Was it Lily?" Jennifer nodded. "Alex must have done something to her. Now watch, she's going to be coming down in five…four…three…two…one!" Sure enough, a sopping wet Lily thundered down the stairs before stopping in front of Jennifer who didn't quite manage to hide her amusement.

"Jennnnyyyyyy! Alex dumped a bucket of water on me; go turn her into a toad or something!" Jennifer shook her head. "Sorry but no can do Lily, I'd like to stay in one piece for the first day of classes." Lily pouted but then did puppy-dog eyes. "Please?" Shaking her head, Jennifer got up and grabbed Lily's drenched sleeve. "She got you good didn't she? Well, let's go up and make Alex apologize. As the two girls headed up, Jennifer looked behind her and rolled her eyes at Remus and mouthed 'I'm the peace maker.' He just smiled and mouthed back, 'Me too.'


	5. Homework is Evil

The Great Hall was full of people talking and laughing, stuffing their faces with food, gossiping, and it also contained one Lily Evans who had her face flat on the table. A table covered with letters while more rained down on top of her head. Quickly her head became buried under all the letters and Alexandria reached over and brushed them off.

"Lily? I know you're not in the best of moods but suffocating yourself under letters isn't the best course of action." Jennifer nodded, agreeing. "Come on, we have our share of letters too and you don't see us acting like you…." Lily mumbled something that they couldn't quite hear so they leaned forward.

"What?"

"I _said_ that _you_ didn't wake up due to the help of a bucket of _icy_ water, _you_ didn't suffer slipping on the puddle of water that dripped from the wet bed, therefore _banging_ your head on the bed post, _you _didn't get up to realize you had five minutes to get down here, and _you_ didn't have to rush around trying to get ready in time because in all the confusion and pain you forgot that you knew magic! Then you come in here, looking forward to a nice breakfast when even before you sit down, you're _bombarded_ by owls which you can't even hex because it's not their fault their owners are stupid and inconsiderate! _Plus, _you didn't get drenched last night as well as this morning and have a traitor friend help!" She glared at Jennifer at that part who just mumbled that just because she helped out last night didn't mean she couldn't tease her the next day. Then Lily let out all her breath in one big sigh and then brightened.

"So, now that I got that off my chest, I think it's time to dish out a little revenge on the two _very certain_ people that enchanted that bucket of water." Immediately her two friends looked scared. Lily wasn't the unofficial leader of the Prowlers for nothing. Waving her wand, Lily muttered a few quick words and then beamed at her friends.

"Since the offense wasn't _too_ big, I went easy on you." Jennifer summoned a mirror hurriedly and she and Alexandria peered into it anxiously.

"Oh no," they said in unison. "_This _is going easy on us?"

Their hair was bright forest green ("Compliments my eyes don't you think?") but their eyes were the same if you left out the minor detail that they had white hypnotic swirls in them. The evil girl smiled.

"Don't worry, since you _are_ my friends," here she muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'though you hardly act like it'; "I charmed you so it disappears after breakfast."

Jennifer sighed in relief but Alexandria had other ideas. She was reaching for her wand when Lily called out with her back against her, "Oh and by the way Alex? Don't bother trying to reverse it, it won't work." She scowled as she put her wand away. "Fine, fine."

"So," Jennifer said with mock cheerfulness, "what are we going to do with these letters now that the owls stopped coming? I was thinking of burning them." Lily shook her head. "No, there's too many, if we did that, the fire would be a bonfire, therefore dangerous." Alexandria looked at the mountain of letters thoughtfully. "Why don't we banish them?" The other two girls looked at her in surprise and then considered her idea.

"Why not," said Lily. Taking her wand, she swished it over the pile. In a split second they were gone. _I wonder where they went, _she thought.

"Okay, now that's taken care of, let's go to class, what do we have first?" Jennifer looked at their schedule. "Uh……we have Transfiguration first." Immediately she smiled. It was her favorite subject after all.

"Now remember Jen, transfiguring the teacher is a big no-no." Jennifer scowled at the laughing Alexandria and Lily but then burst out laughing too. Still laughing, the three made their way to class. Meanwhile…

…………………………………………………………………

A herd of cows were grazing peacefully in the country side when suddenly, a loud _pop!_ sounded. An enormous pile of letters appeared on the ground, nearly burying a cow. The cows slowly glanced at the pile and then resumed grazing.

…………………………………………………………...

James lazily flicked his wand at the frog on his desk, effectively transforming it into a snitch. Before it could fly away, he undid the spell. Then he redid it. Frog, snitch, frog, snitch, frog, snitch, over and over again. Yawning as he scanned the classroom, his gaze fell on a certain struggling redhead. She was unsuccessfully trying to transform a mouse into a quill. Her oriental friend on the other hand was transforming her cat by giving it little fairy wings, talons, and floppy dog ears. The feline hissed reproachfully at her. Shrugging, she took the spells off and transformed it into a mouse which scandalized the cat. From there she transformed it into a quill, irritating her struggling friend. The blond looked on amusedly, a teacup that formerly was a bird on her desk. It had taken her three tries. Obviously that girl, err…..Jenny or something was the best in their little group. Maybe she could rival even him. He thought on that for a second……nah.

Sirius prodded him in the sides with his wand.

"Hey Prongs, take a look at that." He gestured to his desk. On top of it was a little sculpture of a Grim-like dog. James snorted. _Gee, I wonder who it's supposed to be? _"What was it?"

"Err….I think it was a mouse."

"Oh. Neat, it looks like a certain 'dog' if I do say so myself."

"Thanks. Anyways, what do you think of the new kids, 'specially the girls. Man, for some of them, all I have to say is that Hogwarts sure doesn't make 'em like that!"

"Mm, have an eye on any of them in particular?"

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go for that brown headed girl right there, next to the door."

"Not a bad choice, I mean, she's easy on the eyes for sure."

Getting up, Sirius rubbed his hands together and grinned. "Watch as the famous Black charm does its magic Jamie-boy. Watch and you might learn a thing or two." As James looked on interestedly, his best friend rose and went up to the girl. He smiled his trademark grin at her and struck up a conversation. From time to time he would make her laugh. After exactly 27.3 seconds (James was timing him), Sirius draped his arm over the girl's shoulder and steered her over to their table.

"James, meet Mindy the brown haired goddess. Mindy dear, meet James." Politely James extended a hand to the blushing Mindy, mouthing to Sirius over her shoulder, 'nice, not bad for you '. Sirius just looked pleased.

The rest of Transfiguration flew by in a blur as the two boys chatted with Mindy, or at least James tried to talk while Sirius and Mindy flirted.

...

"Phew!"

Lily collapsed onto the red and gold stripped armchair in the Gryffindor common room. It was evening now and the three girls were exhausted after their first day of classes at Hogwarts. Between struggling to find the classrooms, getting lost, dealing with admirers, and picking out potential prank targets, the girls had used up all their energy.

Jennifer and Alexandria flopped down on either side of Lily. Said person groaned.

"Ohhh, I don't think I can handle this, I think I'll just drop out." Alexandria replied to that comment without even opening her eyes.

"Lils, you say that _every_ year on _every_ first day during _every_ first evening and yet you _never_ do it. It's just that we're not used to this yet because we've been slacking all summer." Lily moaned.

"But they gave us _homework!_ On the _first_ day!" She opened her eyes and looked at Jennifer.

"Oh _Jen- Jen…_"

"No, I refuse to stay up till 2 o'clock helping you do your Transfiguration essay. Lily, one day I won't be here and who'd help you then?" Lily shrugged.

"I dunno, some random smart person? Anyways, you wouldn't want me to _fail_ now do you?"

"Maybe."

"Jennifer! _How _could you _ever_ say such a thing!"

"By saying it."

"You know what I mean!"

"Do I?"

"_PLEASE! _I'm begging you I'm _hopeless_ without you!"

"Okay, okay fine. You're lucky I'm so nice," she grumbled.

"Thank you!"

"….Sure."

Getting up at last, the Prowlers headed up to their dorm, dreading one of the most horrible things in the world. _Homework.  
_

……………………………………………………………………

Did you notice my attempts to make the chapters longer? If you guys are waiting for pranks, don't worry, there should be some in the next chapter or two. Remember, review!


	6. The 'War' Begins

"What about frog feet for a day?"

"No, people wouldn't be able to see them through his shoes."

"Not if we made them big enough so they won't fit in the shoes."

"Still…..I'm not too crazy over that idea…"

"Fine then, you think of something!"

"I'm trying to! And you know this is a group effort, don't get mad just because I don't like some of your ideas!"

The two girls glared at each other until Jennifer sighed. "I know that Lily, it's just that all the stress is catching up to me. Haven't the teachers ever heard of a break?" She looked over at Lily. "Truce?" Lily nodded tiredly. "Truce." Alexandria let out a big breath of air in relief. "Finally! All the bickering was giving me a headache. Anyways, who are we pranking and why? I forgot." Lily frowned for a second in concentration and then smiled.

"We're pranking Sirius Black on the charge of cheating on a girl from our school. If he had just broken up with her it would have been alright but since he cheated on her that calls for a prank." Jennifer added her own comment. "But nothing too big since it _is_ a relationship problem." The others nodded in agreement. "So, what do you think Alex, what should we do?" "Well, how about…"

…………………………………………………

"Now?"

"No, not yet."

"…"

"Now?"

"…..Yes!"

Casually, Lily drew out her wand and pointed it towards their target under the table. "_Bombs away_," she muttered quietly before casting the spell. A second later, Sirius Black sported a head of snakes instead of hair.

"_WHOA!"  
_

He leapt out of his seat. "_Get them off!_" he shrieked. "Remus, do something!" Suddenly, Sirius noticed something horrible. _Laughter._ Directed at him. People were laughing at him! That simply wasn't right. Plus, as he calmed down about the snakes (nasty Slytherins…) he realized that someone had broken one of the unwritten rules of Hogwarts. Never. Ever. Prank. A. Marauder. James who was sitting next to him seemed to realize that too.

"Remus, can you undo that charm? I want you to work on that." Standing up on his chair, James roared, "WHO PLAYED THAT PRANK ON SIRIUS?" There was silence as everyone looked around for the culprit. Lily stood up calmly. "I did. Have a problem with it?"

"YES! YOU JUST PRANKED MY BEST MATE!"

"WELL TOO BAD THEN! HE DESERVED IT!"

"BUT YOU NEVER EVER PRANK A MARAUDER, DON'T YOU KNOW THAT?"

"NO, BUT EVEN IF I DID, I WOULD HAVE STILL DONE IT!"

"UNDO IT!"

"NO!"

By this point, both Lily and James were breathing heavily and were red in the face from yelling so much. The rest of the school was in shock that someone had pranked AND yelled at a Marauder. Then again, they had never met a Prowler before either. James growled.

"I'm warning you Evans, you _don't_ want to get on my bad side. If you undo that spell, I might let you off." Lily laughed, a mocking smile on her face.

"No Potter, _you_ don't want to get on _my_ bad side. And if you'll excuse me ("No."), I'll be returning to my breakfast." With that Lily sat back down, slowly and deliberately speared a sausage with her fork, placed it in her mouth, and ate it. James stared at her with his mouth open wide in astonishment. He promptly closed it and snarled out, "This is war Evans."

Lily merely scoffed. "No Potter, this is going to be me kicking your arse and you trying to retaliate." James opened his mouth in indignation but then closed it as Remus tugged him down.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked as he scowled darkly, his face mirroring that of Sirius's who still had a nest of snakes for hair. Remus just sighed.

"Nothing you said would have made this better. Now, as for the prank war, we better lay down some rules. I was thinkin-" Sirius interrupted Remus, his grey eyes darkening. "Before that, can you fix this?" He pointed disgustedly at the snakes.

"I can try." And he did. For the next five minutes, Remus (and James) tried everything he knew to reverse the spell but nothing worked.

"Sorry Padfoot but it looks like you're going to have to wait it out until the spell wears off." Sirius growled softly." Fine. But we have to start working on a prank right away! _Nobody _pranks a Marauder." James nodded solemnly next to him. Remus nodded to but not before adding, "Except a Maruader." James just groaned. "Moony, did you just _have_ to ruin the moment?"

……………………………………………………

"Nice comeback Lils." Lily smiled as she took a bite of eggs. "Thanks. You guys don't mind that we're going to be in a prank war do you?"

"Nah, it's okay. Besides, it'll give us something to do," Jennifer reassured her, "other then school, school, and more school. Right Alex?" Alexandria nodded absentmindedly as she continued to browse through a magazine. "Did you know they're having a sale tomorrow at _Moonshine_? And I can't go! Maybe I can get Mother to buy something for me…" Lily reached over and plucked the magazine out of Alexandria's hands.

"Hey!"

"Alex, were you even paying attention?"

"Of course I was, we're having a ……bank award?"

"NO! A _prank_ war!"

"Oh. I knew that."

"Uh-huh."

"I was!"

"Right…….anyways, we need to go to classes now. What do we have Jen?" Jennifer glanced at her timetable. "Double Potions with the Hufflepuffs. Oh joy, toxic fumes and damp moldy dungeons. What a great way to start your day." Stowing away the schedule inside her book bag, Jennifer got up. The others soon followed and they went with the crowd till the Great Hall doors where they separated and went to the dungeons.

………………………………………………………………………

Yes, I finally got another chapter up! Sorry for being so late. If you were wondering, I haven't given up on this story.


	7. Potions and Hair

"Now, your potions should be turning a pale shade of lavender now and emitting a green haze. Remember to stir clockwise every seven-"

Tuning out the rest of Professor Slughorn's instructions, Jennifer prodded Alexandria on the shoulder.

"How's our potion, is it purple at least? I know lavender's too much to hope for." Alexandria sighed glumly. "See for yourself." Jennifer hesitantly peered into the cauldron.

It was orange. Alexandria threw down the wooden spoon she had been stirring with and it fell with a loud clatter. As one, the two looked over at Lily who had been paired with a girl from another Hufflepuff. _Their _potion was just fine. Lily was stirring it now with the Professor standing over her shoulder, singing praises to her potion-making skills. Lily always had been the better one at potions. She said it was rather like chemistry which they had no idea as to what it was.

Disgruntled, the two turned back to their own abysmal potion which was now starting harden into a cement-like form while giving off a horrible smell.

"Shoot! We need to have a potion in a flask, not a brick in a pot! Hurry, maybe it's still watery enough to pour." With that Alexandria snatched up their flask and with some difficulty, Jennifer managed to lift up the heavy cauldron to tilt towards it. As they watched, the potion trickled down and they grew more hopeful when right before the first drop entered the flask, it all hardened.

"No! We were so close!" Suddenly Jennifer's face brightened. "I've got it!"

Quickly drawing her wand from her robes, she cast a silencing charm around them. Then she looked around for some trash, finding it in the form of a crumpled sheet of parchment and a broken quill. "Now, what would be better, just a hammer or a chisel too?" Jennifer mused to herself.

"Chisel and hammer," said Alexandria, now that she had realized what Jennifer was trying to do. "But we better hurry, class is almost over." Nodding absentmindedly, Jennifer waved her wand over the junk and they transformed into the tools she had needed. Working quickly, they managed to chisel out enough chunks to fill the flask. Thanks to the charm, Slughorn didn't hear the _clink-clink_ of the hammer and chisel. As Alexandria closed the flask, Jennifer took down the silencing spell and heard the bell. Rushing, they placed their rather lumpy and hard flask next to all the others before racing out of class to meet a laughing Lily.

"Slughorn didn't see but I saw along with half the class. Did you know watching you guys hammer and chisel at your potion cheered me up immensely?" Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Hey, we got it in the flask, right Alex? Alex?" Turning around, Lily, and Jennifer saw that Alexandria was staring at the sleeve of her robe with a look of horror on her face. Concerned, the two raced over to her and asked what was wrong. Wordlessly she pointed. They winced. About an inch of her robe's sleeve had been singed by the fire they had been using to heat the potion. To make matter's worse, it was one of Alexandria's favorite robes.

"Um, maybe you could singe the other sleeve and the bottom so it matches," offered Lily lamely. Alexandria just looked at her in a condescending way.

"No, really Lily, that might have worked in October but it's September. Plus it's singed, not tattered. And it's the wrong kind of fabric for that, see? It's-" By then Jennifer cut in.

"I don't think Lily was being serious Alex…"

Continuing their discussion about Alexandria's robes, the Prowlers walked down the hall, completely forgetting about the three boys who probably wanted revenge.

* * *

Remus glanced at his fellow Marauders as they fed flobberworms and pretended to listen to their Care of Magical Creatures professor.

"So mates, any ideas? Wait; let me make that more clear, any ideas that don't involve maiming, killing, torturing, or extreme humiliation?"

With a disappointed look on his face, the now snake-less Sirius lowered his hand. A thoughtful James poked a flobberworm with a leaf of lettuce.

"How about changing their hair like Sirius'? Only, let's do something other than snakes." Sirius nodded considered the prank.

"That could work…" Flobberworms forgotten, the threesome quickly began whispering and planning. After a few fiercely whispered arguments and a couple rejected spells, the prank was ready. Glancing behind them, James looked over at their future victims. They seemed to be engrossed in a magazine that the blonde was hiding from the teacher behind their flobberworm container. He nudged Sirius.

"Perfect opportunity, they aren't on their guards." The corners of Sirius' mouth lifted upward in a smirk as he rubbed his hands together. "Yes, perfect opportunity indeed Prongs." With James and Remus watching eagerly, Sirius gave an expert little flick of his wand for show and then recited the three different spells.

The girls suddenly froze as they felt their hair change. Slowly and hesitantly, as if they were afraid of what they'd find, the girls looked at their hair. Their reactions were entertaining at the very least; Lily's being the most violent.

A wet and slimy noise. "Please tell me that I am hallucinating when I say that my hair is seaweed."

A gasp. Then a voice starting out calm and ending hysterically saying, "How odd. My hair _seems to have turned to yarn! It most certainly is **not** this season's look!_"

Immense heat. "AHH! _My head is on fire!_"

Watching Lily run around in circles with literally flaming red hair trailing behind her, Jennifer sit with a nauseated expression on her face as water dripped from her long, slimy, and wet locks of seaweed, and Alexandria gingerly prod the yarn with her wand producing random sparks that scorched the yarn, the Marauders laughed loudly. At the sound of their voice, Alexandria turned and put the two and two together. Sending them a dirty look, she waved her wand and uttered a single word.

"_Silenco!_"

Now mute, the three boys glared at Alexandria who smiled smugly. Since they couldn't utter the counter-curse due to them all being mute, they were stuck this way.

Lily had now calmed down enough to figure out the flames weren't burning anything and were mainly show. She turned her Death Glare on the boys and they flinched visibly. Having brilliant and intense emerald eyes that just radiated the promise of future pain and misery in your direction wasn't very appealing.

Still, even thought they were now mute and shaken from Lily's glare, the Marauders had to say it was worth it all.

* * *

"Ergh! I can't believe we forgot about them. Of course they would prank us for retaliation, we should have been ready! And of all the pranks they could have pulled, they just had to copy-"

Alexandria and Jennifer's heads moved side to side as they watched Lily pace as she ranted in their dorm. Thankfully the two other girls in their dorm were empty. As she looked through yet another book, Jennifer asked Alexandria, "You figured out the counter-curse yet?" It was a well known fact between the girls and their old school that though she certainly didn't act like it, Alexandria was one of the best when it came to hexes, curses, and their counter-charms. When pranked, it was to her they turned to. And books of course if she didn't know, she was only human after all.

Now that we're on the subject of specialties, let's see about the other two girls. Lily was rather gifted when it came to charms. She was good at potions too but it was in charms where she really shone. Able to do most in her first try, she made it seem astonishingly easy. Jennifer was amazing when it came to transfiguration. As she had demonstrated in class, she had a knack for it. Jennifer was also the bookworm of the group. She conducted most of the research.

Together, the girls made a pretty good team. As they had found out in first year, if they all contributed, they could go far.

"Got it!" Gleefully motioning her friends over, Alexandria waved a slim journal at them. In it was a record of some of their more memorable pranks and the spells involved.

"This one's from fourth year, remember when we had charmed everyone to have grass for hair and it backfired had got us too?" At the girl's nods she continued. "Well, here's the spell we used to reverse it, it should work since the circumstances are similar, both are hair changes."

Whipping out her wand, Alexandria waved her wand over them and muttered, "_Finite morrie!_"

Their hair let off a soft shimmer before gradually changing back. Lily let out a thankful sigh of relief as she felt her normal hair again.

"Thanks Alex, you're a lifesaver.

Shrugging, Alexandria merely returned to the magazine they had been looking at in class.

* * *

Sorry this chapter is so late but my computer broke a month or two ago and after trying multiple times to fix it, it seems like it's dead for real so this is a different computer. Not new but new for me. On a sad note, all my files are gone so any future chapters I had are gone. So, back to the drawing board, eh? Review as always! 


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